While Keillor did not take MPR’s request for a phone interview, he did respond to an Associated Press query via e-mail.

Keillor told The Associated Press in a follow-up e-mail Wednesday that he’ll be 70 in the spring of 2013, “and that seems like a nice round number.”

“The reason to retire is to try to avoid embarrassment; you ought to do it before people are dropping big hints. You want to be the first to come up with the idea. You don’t want to wait until you trip and fall off the stage,” Keillor told the AP.

You can tune in to All Things Considered at 5:50pm to hear my update on the story with host Tom Crann.